Dictionnaire encyclopedique du judaisme pdf free

10Д«etween the ancient cosmic conception and this new mechanical conception of the body, stand the renewal of dissections and the evolution of anatomical representations, both participating in the new visual culture of the Renaissance. 8 This mechanistic representation can thus be seen as emblematic of the power that technology and science have afforded over the body in the modern era, 9 even if the ancient conceptions persisted together with the new ones for a long time. The observation, quantification and calculation of forces have become an integral part of the study of the human body. (Berman National Medical Library, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.)Д¬onversely, the portrayal of the human body as a machine can be seen as the most significant mark of the changes that medicine underwent at the beginning of the modern era. The human body as a house, from Tobias Cohen, MaвЂ™aseh Tuviyah (1708), folio 106a. 6 Whatever the reason, the microcosm metaphor undoubtedly occupied a central place in medieval medical representations of the human body. 5 Some have also suggested that the perception of the human body as subject to celestial influences reflects a sense of dependence upon the transcendent-the predominant view in the Middle Ages, in keeping with the Christian doctrine developed by the Catholic Church at the time.

4 Without denying this, one might ask whether such books were not by the same token merely employing a simple mnemonic device in a period in which culture was still largely oral, thereby making it easier for students (and physicians) to remember the different phlebotomy points and their indications. 3 Some historians see this as proof that a familiarity with astrology would have been a prerequisite for the practice of learned medicine at the time. Man is defined as a вЂњlittle worldвЂќ or microcosm, and the universe that he reflects as a вЂњgreat worldвЂќ or macrocosm 2-as, for example, in such pictures that note suitable points for blood-letting in reference to the signs of the zodiac. In medieval medical treatises, the body is often portrayed in relation to the universe as a reflection of the heavenly bodies. It may also be seen, however, as a possible alternative to the mechanistic vision that has dominated our conception of the human body since the onset of the scientific revolution an alternative with deep roots in Hebrew culture as well that in вЂњthe arts of memoryвЂќ.

1 What was the function of such an illustration? What is its significance? In the following article I will postulate that such an illustration would have served primarily as a mnemonic device for (Jewish) students of medicine. In Ma'aseh Tuviyah, a Hebrew medical treatise published in Venice at the dawn of the eighteenth century, there is a magnificent illustration in which the human body is portrayed as a house.

Dictionnaire encyclopedique du judaisme pdf free